Senators get spooked by Monsters in 5-1 loss at CAA Arena

It was another frustrating evening for the Belleville Senators at CAA Arena on Wednesday night.

Despite outshooting the Cleveland Monsters (AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets) 33-28, Belleville dropped a 5-1 decision, giving up valuable points on the push for a third Calder Cup Playoff berth.

While most of the period saw the teams trade chances back and forth, the Monsters would draw first blood, with Jordan Dumais scoring for the second consecutive game. The 20-year-old rookie positioned himself out in front of Leevi Merilainen and got a piece of Rocco Grimaldi’s point shot, and deflected it past the Belleville netminder to make it 1-0 after 20 minutes. The shots were even in the first period at 11-11.

The Senators evened the score just under five minutes into the second period when captain Garrett Pilon got on a two-on-one rush with Cole Reinhardt, feeding the puck across to the Alberta native, who stuffed an emphatic backhand past Jet Greaves for his 13th of the year. But, the tie would only last about two minutes after former Belleville Sens forward Joseph Labate found Trey Fix-Wolansky with a pass to the back door, which he slid past Merlainen. Cleveland led 2-1 after two periods and held a narrow 22-21 shot lead heading into the third.

Cleveland would tack on three more goals in the third period, on just five shots, with Roman Achan deflecting a puck past Merilainen at 6:56, Fix-Wolansky scoring his second of the game at 16:00, and Luca Del Bel Belluz rounding out the scoring a minute and a half after that.

The loss drops the Senators six points back of Cleveland for fourth place in the North Division standings. Belleville trails fifth-place Syracuse by just two points, with a meeting between those two rivals looming next week. Before that though, Belleville will welcome the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers) this coming Friday and then play their season series finale with the Toronto Marlies (AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs) at home on Saturday.

You can see the complete box score by clicking here.

Fast Facts:

• #9 Angus Crookshank picked up his 18th assist of the season and registered a game-high six shots on net.
• #16 Tyler Boucher recorded four shots on net.
• #21 Max Guenette finished with three shots on goal.
• #22 Garrett Pilon was credited with his 29th assist of the season.
• #23 Cole Reinhardt scored his 13th goal of the season and had five shots on goal.
• #30 Leevi Merilainen stopped 23 of 28 shots he faced.
• The Senators outshot the Monsters 33-28
• Belleville was 0/6 on the Lifestyle Home Products Power Play and 4/6 on the ViewTech Window and Door Penalty Kill.

Highlights:

Up Next:

• Friday, March 28, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms – 7:00 p.m. (CAA Arena) (Pride Night)
• Saturday, March 29, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs. Toronto Marlies – 7:00 p.m. (CAA Arena)
• Wednesday, April 2, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs Syracuse Crunch – 7:00 p.m. (CAA Arena)
• Friday, April 4, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs Rochester Americans – 7:00 p.m. (CAA Arena) (Community Heroes Night presented by Bell)
• Saturday, April 5, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs Rochester Americans – 7:00 p.m. (CAA Arena) (Faceoffs and Fossils Night)

Tickets for all 2024-25 Belleville Sens home games are now on sale via Ticketmaster, by emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com, or at the Belleville Sens Box Office at CAA Arena during select hours.

Fans looking for details on other ticketing options can click the following links for more on  becoming a season seat member, purchasing a flex pack membership, or putting down a deposit for a group experience. More information on those ticket options, plus details on premium seating and Business Elite packages is available by visiting the Belleville Sens website or emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com.

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